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eMOLT Update 2024-08-02
Weekly Recap
This week, the eMOLT fleet recorded 110 tows of sensorized fishing
gear totaling 768 sensor hours underwater. The warmest recorded bottom
temperature was 72.9 in Nantucket Sound in approximately 6 fathoms and
the coldest recorded bottom temperature was 43 on Stellwagen Bank in
approximately 18 fathoms. Below, you can see a few temperature profiles
of interest across the region from the last week. Surface waters are
unsurprisingly coolest in Eastern Maine (red and black) and warmest
along the shelf break (purple, orange, teal, and pink).

We continued upgrading deckboxes to the new “Green Boat” software
this week, with the F/Vs Bookie, Donna Marie, Ryan Joseph, Resolve, and
Phyliss P coming online with the new software. We’ve also been working
on a few additional proposals with our collaborators at the University
of Maine and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. These proposals would
provide funding to maintain the existing eMOLT network (hardware
maintenance) and apply the eMOLT dataset in new ways.
Dissolved Oxygen Dashboard Live (sort of)
Our new Dissolved Oxygen dashboard is available here.
For now, it allows users to filter observations by date and location.
Observation coordinates are rounded to 1/100th of a degree, so they are
within ~0.25 nautical miles of the actual fishing location, but actual
fishing locations are NOT displayed. We’ve gotten some feedback from
colleagues at Maine DMR and Massachusetts DMF already, but if you have
ideas to make this dashboard better, please reach out. Future plans
include:
- Adding a Fahrenheit scale to the temperature plot
- Adding colors to the Dissolved Oxygen plot
- Adding a depth filter using GEBCO bathymetric data (since there are
no pressure sensors on the DOT loggers)
Perhaps the biggest lift that remains though is ironing out the data
pipeline on the back end so that this year’s data start flowing in.
Currently, the dashboard only displays a subset of eMOLT collected DO
data from last year. We’ll keep you up to date as we move forward with
that.
Save the Date
We have officially booked The Westin Portland
Harborview for the 2025 Northeast Cooperative Research Summit, which
will be held on January 28th, 2025! Please mark your calendars. More
information including registration and lodging info and a schedule of
topics will be coming soon. We look forward to seeing you there!
System Hardware Upgrade List
The following vessels remain on our list for hardware upgrades. If
you aren’t on the list and think you should be, please reach out.
Note that this list is different from our new install
queue.
- F/V Brooke C *
- F/V Excalibur
- F/V Kaitlyn Victoria
- F/V Kyler C
- F/V Linda Marie
- F/V Nathaniel Lee *
- F/V Noella C
- F/V Sao Paulo
- F/V Sea Watcher I
- F/V Tom Slaughter
- F/V Virginia Marise
Courtesy of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the
Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association
So far so good this season, with all sensors reporting oxygen values
in the “normal” range over the last week.

Bottom Temperature Forecasts
Doppio
Over the last week, the Doppio model performed pretty well through
most of the region. Observations south of Long Island and in
Massachusetts Bay trended slightly cooler than predictions, while
observations along the Maine coast trended slightly warmer than the
forecast. Along the shelf break, observations were slightly warmer but
generally close to the forecast model. Observations east of New Jersey
were several degrees cooler than predicted, and observations in
Nantucket sound were several degrees warmer than predicted.


Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System


Cooperative Research Opportunities
- The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is soliciting for
five survey vessels for the pilot hook and line survey in Fall 2024 and
Spring 2025. The deadline for proposals is midnight EST on August 5,
2024. The Request for Proposals can be found here.
For questions about the RFP, please contact Jason Morson at the Northeast Fisheries
Science Center.
Announcements
- The Woods Hole Science Stroll is taking place on August 10, 2024 in
Woods Hole, MA from 10 am to 3 pm. Many of the labs in Woods Hole will
have hands on science exhibits and several research vessels will be open
for tours. The event is free and family friendly; you can learn more here.
All the best,
-George and JiM
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